


The Vampire of Starbucks

by AnonymousMink



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drabble, F/M, Oneshot, Prompt Fic, Starbucks AU, cleaned up whilst hungover, the inevitable coffeeshop AU, written whilst inebriated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:19:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousMink/pseuds/AnonymousMink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He could, theoretically, be a vampire. If vampires existed. Either way Rey’s rudest and most dismissive Starbucks customer certainly does seem to wear a lot of black. And always appear exactly when she's been left on her own. She's pretty sure his name isn't actually ‘Kylie N.’ or ‘Kai Lauren’ but hey, if she’s spelling it wrong deliberately on his incredibly pretentious order who can blame her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Vampire of Starbucks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rellie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellie/gifts).



> Long story short I drank a lot of wine and Rellie convinced me to write a Reylo Coffee Shop AU! Blame her. Entirely. She prompted it, gave me lines when my drunk ass ran out of ideas, helped me make it all shiny and nice in the cold light of day, aaand even helped me write the summary! :D Thanks Psychic Trash Twin! :D You're the best!

 

 

“Don’t look now but your favourite customer has just shown up.”

Rey groaned, resisting the urge to smack her head against the superautomatic espresso machine and give herself some first degree burns in the process. _Every day_ . Every freaking day he showed up. Always at 10 o'clock, always with the world's most ridiculous order and always, _always,_ without the slightest hint of courtesy.

They’d dubbed him the Vampire of Starbucks.  

And he always appeared just as Poe went on break.

“Bye Reyyyy!” He grinned, waving at her as he danced off into the back room. “Have fun!”

“Sonova-” she gritted her teeth. Hard. _C’mon Rey,_ she gave herself the familiar pep talk, steeling her spine to face her own personal customer-from-hell, _just get it over with._

“Hi there, Welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?” She plastered on her bestest, brightest smile. Face aching with the effort as he stared darkly at his phone, foot tapping impatiently behind the counter.

Seventy nine feet tall (at least) and dressed all in black he dwarfed her, even raised as she was by the serving dias. Paler than a polar bear and perpetually scowling at his iphone as he clogged up the queue area.

She waited. Wishing it was peak time so she could hurry him on with impunity, the lull in traffic meant she had to put up with his infuriating lurking. Her face felt like it would start to bleed at any second, cheek muscles seizing up with the effort.

“Sir?” She held the smile in place with an iron will, “Can I take your order, please?”

“Hmm?” He looked up at last, meeting her gaze with brown eyes so dark they were almost black. “I’ll have a two shot venti cinnamon mocha with unsweetened almond milk. No foam.”

“Coming right up.” _You bastard._ she added silently on the end, staring blankly at the machine for a minute before seizing a cup. “The name, _please_?”

Each please was a knife in her gut but she forced ‘em out anyway. She needed the money after all.

“Kylo Ren.”

It was a stupid name to go with a stupid order, and she’d long since learned it by heart. He’d been coming in for over a week after all.

“Kylo Ren.” She muttered darkly under her breath as she stabbed the order into the machine and waited, taking up her sharpie with a malicious glee.

_Kylie N._

She wrote, her smile finally feeling real as the power of the pen filled her. _How ya like me now, bitch._

Going through the motions of his order she felt a deep sense of satisfaction when she finally slid his over priced drink across the counter. He frowned at it, annoyance clouding his features as he regarded the name before turning on his heel and exiting the cafe in an overly dramatic swirl of black fabric.

Rey bumped her hip against the counter and watched him go. She’d just found her new favourite game.

 

-

 

“Name please?”

Kylo Ren gritted his teeth, fielding off another half dozen messages from General Pain in the Ass. He’d been frequenting that particular branch of Starbucks for weeks, far long enough for even the most incompetent barista to learn it.

“Kylo Ren.” He intoned, dropping his phone into his pocket and finally looking up at the serving girl. She always seemed to be on duty during his mid-morning caffeine run, both a blessing and a curse. She was a strange, short creature with a wide plastic smile and an obvious memory deficiency, but she was also the only person within city limits who seemed capable of getting his order right. It was… interesting.

His phone buzzed insistently in the pocket and he pulled it out with a scowl as she slid his drink over the counter with her management-approved smile.

“Have a great day.” She grinned, even as her eyes sparkled with malice.

He glanced down at the cup.

_Kai Lauren._

The most colourful interpretation yet.

 

-

 

“Hey - Dameron, I’m running out of names for the Vampire.” Rey folded her arms, watching the clock impatiently as it ticked slowly towards ten. “D’ya think ‘ _Guy Delorean_ ’ or ‘ _Smile O’then’_ is better?” 

“To be honest with you Rey-bey, and I’m only saying this because I love you, both are weak.” Poe shook his head, unfastening his apron as the bell above the door rang. “C+ for effort but must try harder!"

“Douche!” She called after him before turning to face her coffee-based nemesis.

She almost tripped over herself when she found him staring right back at her, his phone missing completely for once.

“Uh - hi.” She started, the familiar spiel suddenly vanishing from her mind as she was confronted with the undivided weight of his attention. “Welcome to Starbucks, can I take… your… order?”

He regarded her for a full twenty seconds, at least, and she felt the most ridiculous heat rising in her cheeks. She was so used to his half-focus, the infrequent nods as he glared at his phone, that it was more than a little disconcerting to find herself suddenly the object of his intensity.

“Maybe a two shot venti cinnamon mocha with unsweetened almond milk?” She offered, breaking the silence and wiggling an empty cup at him.

“Perfect.” He nodded and the blush redoubled itself.

 _Stupid vampire_. Planting her feet squarely behind the counter she raised her chin,  challenging his gaze even as she slapped her best Starbucks smile on.

“Name?”

 

-

 

“Kylo Ren.” He raised an eyebrow at the devious glint that lit her eye. “Perhaps you need me to spell it for you?” 

“No no,” The barista shook her head, smile becoming a smirk. “I’ve got it.”

She took up the marker with fiendish delight, scrawling across the empty cup. He watched her move through the familar routine of getting his coffee, reaching without thinking for the almond milk as the machine whirred to life. It was almost like a dance, a perfectly calculated series of movements as she prepared his order.

“Here you go.” She held it out to him with her perfect, Employee-of-the-Month smile, but there was a note of challenge in her eyes he couldn’t look away from.

Glancing down at the cup he wasn’t sure whether to smirk or scowl.

_Caitlin Zen._

He looked up again, she seemed poised, tense, waiting for his reaction.

“I give you points for creativity today, at least.”

She narrowed her eyes but the smile didn’t falter, “Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.”

Surprising both of them, he actually was. He wondered what it meant about his life that this grammatical battle with a minimum wage employee had become the highlight of his day.

 

-

 

“Yeah but what did he _mean_ by that?” Rey swung her legs over the side of the counter, the shop empty after the early morning rush. “Like is it a psyche out? Is he trying to get in my head?”

Poe shrugged, checking out his perfect reflection in the milk jug and licking his teeth to make sure they were as sparkly as possible. “If he is it’s obviously working. I’m more prone to thinking it’s not your _head_ he’s trying to get into though.”

He waggled his eyebrows salaciously and Rey jerked back, eyes widening in affront.

“What on earth do you mean?”

“ _Pants,_ Rey!” He threw his hands up at, as if explaining it to a child or particularly dense chihuahua. “I thought that was obvious. He’s trying to get into your _pants_!”

“Have you been in the nutmeg again, Dameron? You know that stuff’s a hallucinogenic right?” Running her hand over the standard issue green apron she jerked her thumb at the back room. “Go sleep it off, horn dog.”

“Yes ma’am.” He saluted smartly before turning away with a lascivious grin, “Enjoy your encounter with the vampire.”

Poe was evil. Kylo Ren was evil.

The world was against her, there was no other explanation for it.

Beyond all sense of reason she found herself getting flustered waiting for the door to ring. He was late. It was two minutes past ten already. By five past she was almost worried something had happened to him. Should she call someone? Gods, how awkward would that conversation be. _Police please, the guy who always comes into my coffee shop at 10 o’clock precisely has missed a day and I think he might’ve fallen down a manhole somewhere. Or maybe someone staked him._

Her hand was hovering stupidly over the phone when the door swung open, the familiar chime jerking her head up like pavlov’s dog. Her heart thundered against her ribs as he strode through the doors, the relief was palpable. And ridiculous.

“Hi. Welcome to Starbucks can I take-”

The words died at the look he levelled at her, one dark brow raised as he hit her with a roguish smile.

“So we’re going to go through this every time.”

She bit down on the inside of her cheek and pulled a cup from the stack, her face frozen somewhere between a glare and a smile.

“Fine.” Keying in the familiar sequence into the machine she held the sharpie up to the light. Her source of power.

_Vlad Loren_

“ _Vlad_?” His eyes flew up, usually measured voice rising in surprise as he appraised her anew. “You think I’m a vampire.”

“If the cape fits.” She smiled widely, eyes lingering on the broad line of his shoulders, outlined as they were in his fine black wool coat, before snapping back to his face as she realized where they’d strayed.

“But it’s daytime.” He pointed out, eyebrows quirking in something almost like disbelief.

She rolled her eyes, “Vampires can survive in daylight, if you’d ever actually read Dracula you’d know that. It’s just the movies that made up the sun thing.”

“That’s rather flimsy evidence.” He leant forward and she found herself mirroring him unconsciously. “I believe other noted characteristics of vampires are their fangs, and their tendency to turn into bats or smoke? Neither of which, I can assure you, are traits of mine.”

It was unfair. He wasn’t allowed to have a sense of humour too. Leaning over the counter she fixed her gaze seriously on his mouth. Swallowing hard against her suddenly dry throat.

“Hmm. We’ll see.”

 

-

 

“Those are new.”

There were white flowers littering the top of the glass pastry case, little bunches of them tied to all the usual signage that lived there. The barista, whose name he was still in the dark on given her complete lack of name tag, (he wondered how Starbucks felt about that) glanced down at them with a grin. Her face lighting up impishly at his notice.

“Garlic flowers.” She said, selecting one from the countertop and holding it out to him. “They’re supposed to ward off the undead.”

“And yet here I still am.” He took the proffered blossom, heart jolting unexpectedly as his fingers brushed hers. From the flush of colour that stained her cheeks, she might have felt it too.

“Just being cautious.” She shrugged, drawing back quickly and turning to the machine. “No harm in double checking after all.”

Popping a lid onto the finished drink, she slid it across the counter. “Wouldn’t do to have you biting the customers.”

He found himself smiling again, letting his gaze linger a moment or two longer than was strictly polite on the smooth white column of her throat. Her dark hair was tied back in a messy bun, leaving it exposed.

“Or the staff?”

The flush returned, her face turning a pleasant shade of red as he turned away to leave.

 

-

 

“Would you please just bang him already?” Poe ran his cloth over the sideboard with a world-weary sigh. “The sexual tension is killing me.”

Rey dropped the mug she was holding, ceramic shattering across the floor. “Damn, Dameron!” She cursed him, scrabbling to pick up the pieces as he unabashedly laughed at her. “What- how- WHAT?!”

“I’m just saying, you’re into him.” He shrugged, throwing his cloth down and stretching languorously. “Oh would you look at the time, have fun darling!”

“You’re the worst!” She shouted after him as the bell rang. Ren was right on time today.

“First I’m a vampire. Now I’m the worst.” His voice was mild, measured. But she _knew_ he was teasing her.

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” She snarked back, quietly, already assembling his order. “Can I get you anything else with that today?”

“Hmm.” He made a big display of examining the case. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy the angles of his face under the florescent lighting. He was actually pretty damn attractive when he wasn’t scowling down at his phone. His skin was splattered with freckles, like ink stains, and his eyes glittered with something that managed to be smack-bang between dangerous and sensitive. Straightening up he made an offhand gesture. “I think… I’ll also take a slice of carrot cake, and your name.”

She started back, heart bailing from her rib cage straight up into her throat at the sheer focused intensity of his gaze.

Oh shit, Poe was right. She was _completely_ into him.

Scrabbling to bag up the slice of cake she rang up the order, investing every inch of her concentration into appearing nonchalant.

“That’ll be five dollars fifty-eight, please.” She said primly, cashing him out on autopilot. She picked up the sharpie for his drink, staring at the cup blankly for a second before her hand moved without permission.

_Rey Niima._

He smirked as she passed it over, managing to send her wits completely out of the window as he held her gaze.

“Thank you, Rey.”

 

-

 

“I know you’re not a vampire.” She said when he turned up the next day, already leaning against the counter in preparation. Her lips turned up in a real smile, not the company-approved grimace, equal parts brightness and mischief. It lit up her small face.

“Oh really?” He leant against the counter, automatically adjusting his posture to best meet her eye. He’d switched his phone over to silent before entering, as he’d taken to doing every day, Hux and Phasma and everyone else could wait. Nothing else really mattered when he was there, the moments spent in the warm coffee-scented glow of her dominion were always the best in his day. “And how is that?”

“You never ask permission to come in.” She shrugged, toying with a lock of hair that had escaped the confines of her bun. Fingers twisting and turning hypnotically in the chestnut strands.

“Well, that’s only because this is a public place, surely.” He smirked, realising suddenly that he’d smiled more at her than anyone else in a long time. The thought making him bold.  “If I were to call at you on home I’d have to ask permission. I’d have to say,” He hesitated, making sure he had the full attention of her hazel gaze. “‘Rey, invite me to your house.’”

Her hand stilled over the paper cups, shell-pink lips parting in a little ‘oh’ of surprise.

“To- my house?” She repeated, making a valiant attempt at acting casual even as pink spots rose in her cheeks to betray her. The coffee machine whirred behind her, completely ignored by both of them. “What if I didn’t have a house. What if I lived in an apartment, say? With two incredibly over protective roommates? Just, theoretically speaking, of course.”

“Well, then I wouldn’t bother.” He sighed airily, watching her face fall for a split second. “Far too much trouble for a first date.”

“Oh.”

Unable to stop himself he reached across the counter, pulling the empty cup from her hands and writing across it’s surface. “I’d have to invite you to my place instead. At say, 8 o’clock.”

 

-

 

Rey glanced down at the cup placed squarely into her unresisting hands. Upon which, in neat black capitals he’d written.

 

_27 Coronet Street_

_8 o’clock ~ Kylo Ren._

 

 _Oh._ She thought to herself. _So that’s how you spell it._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, comments are much appreciated :D

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Vampire of Starbucks [PODFIC]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6078564) by [Rellie (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Rellie)




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